Operation: Harmony
by Chris000
Summary: The UNSC Harmony floats adrift in the Deneb system. No lights are on, COMs are dead and a single weak disress beacon is active. ODST Sergeant Major Jon Callard is here to check it out. My first horror fic. Enjoy!
1. Chapter 0: Prologue

Operation: HARMONY

Chris000

Chapter 0: Prologue

April 4th, 3237, 1128 hours

Deneb System

Interplanetary Space

Soldier's Log Activated:

Petty Officer Second Class Reed Fath

/Begin Entry/

Oh God, they're all dead…They're bleeding and there are body parts everywhere…oh shit, oh shit! It's been ah…four days since communications with the rest of the ship were cut off. A few of us locked ourselves inside Engineering hoping we could get away from…Hell I don't even know what they are! They had teeth, claws, and raw red bloody limbs…oh Jesus…

I…I think I'm the last one left alive. I heard screaming from the other side of the room but I've been too scared to look…_the lights just went out_! [Unintelligible, incomprehensible muttering]. I don't want to die! I don't want to- [scream, blood spatter, gargling]

**Record ends, unexpected shutdown K/M/WIA 4.4.3237.1128. Shutting Down. Thank you.**

**/**End Entry/


	2. Chapter 1: Assignment

Chapter 1: Assignment

April 7th, 3237, 0741 hours

Geneva, Switzerland, Earth

UNSC HIGHCOM Base

Sergeant Major Jonathon Callard was called here for a duty. He was dragged away from his men. In the letter he received, he was told that there was a special job that needed to be done. It was high risk, red flagged, and by all means, a suicide mission. Most men wouldn't even consider a mission like that. But Jonathon Callard is no ordinary man. He's an ODST.

Orbital Drop Shock Troopers were the Special Forces of the UNSC. They had no fear. They dropped out of moving spaceships flying hundreds of kilometres over a planet with nothing protecting them but a small metal pod, the Single Occupant Exoatmospheric Insertion Vehicle (SOEIV) and their own armour protecting them. Q.E.D.

Callard was the first choice for the job. At 35 years old, Jon had fought at Talahan V back in '32, the Storming or Robotropolis in '35, and the Liberation of Earth a little less than a year later. His team was ready for anything. An MP directed him towards a stainless steel door that was accented by paintings of various space battles. He recognized one ship, the UNSC _Sydney_. That boat was named after his home city. Callard was Australian, but by no means less a Marine.

He pushed the doors aside and walked in. He stood to and saluted sharply. "Sir, Sergant Major Jonathon H. Callard reporting as ordered, Sir!" The man in the chair spun around. This was Major General Albin Balsiger. He was smoking a cigar with great satisfaction. Behind him, the beautiful view from Salève of Lake Geneva. Below them the city was just waking up in the morning light. "Good morning, Sergeant." Balsiger said with a slight French accent. "I trust your flight from Melbourne was pleasurable?" "Yes sir, it was good sir."

That was a flat out lie. The UNSC didn't give a damn about comfort. They just wanted to make sure that their men didn't die in mid-flight. The seats would make stone slabs look like duvets and the MREs they served tasted like raw meat, which he highly suspected they were. "Good. I asked for you specially, Sergeant." He tapped a button on his desk a holographic interface activated and a volumetric display of a battleship appeared. She was long and had a pronounced prow. "The UNSC _Harmony_, a _Champion_-Class battleship, BB-081. Three weeks ago, she was last seen patrolling in the Deneb system or Alpha Cygni.

Balsiger tapped another button and a star chart replaced the Harmony. Deneb was pointed out in the constellation Cygnus. He zoomed in and a five-planet system appeared and one very large asteroid belt. "Deneb is a white supergiant 300 times the size of Sol. There are five planets in her orbit, three of which are gas giants, two terrestrial. Only one is inhabited at 109 AUs, mostly scientists. The _Harmony_ was last seen in the asteroid belt around here."

A dot appeared and a set of coordinates followed. "Your assignment is to board the vessel. The _Harmony_ hasn't been sending signals. Confirm the location of the ship and her crew. If she's too badly damaged, evacuate the crew and scuttle her. Don't want to leave anything for the Covenant to scavenge." "General, I'll do it." Balsiger nodded. "_Bon_. Gather your men and report to the _Midsummer Night_. Captain Gerald will bring you to Denab. From there, you're on your own." "Yes sir." "Dismissed, Sergeant." Callard saluted and turned on his heel. There was work to do.

Callard gathered a few of his men for the mission. A small team would be able to board the ship without incident: Joe Martinez, the medic/bomb specialist, Tommy Lucas, the anthropomorphic squirrel, and Hank Raymond, sniper. Captain Gerald was at the head of the _Midsummer Night_. She was a frigate with a long reputation. Ever since the 26th Century, one ship has carried the name. This was the current reincarnation.

His other squadmates, Wilhelmina "Billy" Maybell, Frank Phidelpha and Jeremy Lawrence sat in the barracks dismayed that they wouldn't be able to come along. Callard cracked his neck. "Don't worry. You blokes are on deck in case the shit hits the fan over there." Maybell stood up. "Still, I wanted to come. It's not every day you get to board a bloody derelict." Billy was British. _Proper_ British. Her accent was so sharp it could cut metal.

"Billy, baby, sweetheart, I promise, the next derelict mission we go on, you can be team leader." "Really, Sarge?" "Like hell you will. You're under my command and you will follow my instruction and my instructions are to stay on the goddamned ship. Understand?" "Yes sir." She said angrily. "Good. Boys? Follow me."

The _Night_ disengaged from Slipspace. A tear opened in realspace and the frigate glided out. "_We've reverted to subspace. All systems go._" "_Copy that. Proceeding with scan._" The ship stopped, carefully applying counterthrust to slow her down. Deneb was a gigantic ball of light. Even with the heat shielding, hull temperature shot up. Windows all over the ship snapped shut to protect the eyes of everybody onboard. "_Scan complete. Nothing but rocks_."

A big asteroid measuring about 500 kilometers across passed at a very uncomfortable 250 kilometers away. The rock was very detailed, showing micrometeor impacts. The asteroid slowly rotated, drifting in its desolate orbit. "What's that?" Captain Gerald asked. "Asteroid. Big one." The Navigator said. "Composed of…nickel and oh, slight amounts of Thorium, that's interesting. This entire field could be a valuable nuclear mining area! We have to flag this." "Another time, son." Gerald waved him away. "Could the _Harmony_ have been destroyed by an asteroid?" "Depends sir." The young man said. He tugged on his cap and said, "If the _Harmony_ was moving at the time, it would be _possible_ that she might have hit a rock. If the sensors were offline. Even then, someone could look out a window and see the damn thing coming. Odds are, she's scrap if she's immobile." Something caught Gerald's eye. It drifted past the asteroid. It looked uncomfortably human. "Lieutenant, did you see that?" "Aye captain. I'll catch up with it." The young man said stone-faced. The ship rumbled as the _Night_ matched the object's trajectory. "Activate the searchlights." Gerald ordered.

At once the object was illuminated. Sadly, Gerald noticed that it was a body. "Lieutenant. Zoom in." "Aye aye." The camera increased magnification. It wasn't human really. It was a Mobian. The anthropomorphic animals were quite common in the fleet. He seemed dressed in military attire. "Go even closer." Gerald squinted his eyes and noticed that the Mobian, a mouse, had a breath mask over his mouth and a pair of goggles on. "Hmm…smart guy. Probably knew his ship was losing atmosphere and got settled in. Looks like he ran out of oxygen though, sir." "There's some sort of laceration on his torso." Gerald noticed. "Ripped right through his ribs. Probably never had a chance."

The body rotated. "Look, on his shoulder." He pointed. "Zoom in even more." The Lieutenant nodded and the magnification jumped to 100x. There was a mission patch on his shoulder, just below his national flag. It had a white dove flying over Earth, the name emblazoned: _Harmony_.

"Looks like the _Harmony_ was attacked by something." Gerald thought out loud sitting in his chair. "By what?" the Tactical Officer asked. "No clue, pirates maybe. Seems like they have some sort of melee weapons, heavy duty too from what I've seen. The ship must have compromised decks." He said pointing to the poor anthro. "Have someone bring him aboard and we can find out who he was."

Doctor Leah Bram looked over the body of the anthro. She pulled a hair off his head. It was frosted and brittle, a side effect of exposure. She sighed sadly as she looked over his wounds. She placed the stiff hair on a scanner. Seconds later, genetic code streamed onto her desktop monitor. She opened a channel to the bridge. "_Go ahead, Doctor_." Captain Gerald said. "His name was Wilson. No last name. That happens to some Mobians, they decide not to take one." "_Is he a John Doe_?" "No sir. We have full identity. He was 23 years old, came from Mercia on Mobius. He just doesn't have a last name." "_Any sign of what killed him_?"

"Oddly enough, judging from the wounds, I was able to establish that he died from blood loss and not from exposure. My hypothesis was that he was slashed, died, and then his body ended up in space." "_Again, any idea on what killed him_?" "No. This wound was caused by something. I don't think it was a sword, too ragged." "_A claw_?" "Maybe…" "_Thank you doctor. You've been a great help_." The COM shut off. Bram sighed sadly. She muttered, "Sleep tight." And dragged the white linen cloth over the Mobian's face.

Callard and his men were suiting up. They hadn't found the ship yet, but they prepared nonetheless. This would assure that when they did find the _Harmony_, they would be able to board her. Callard slipped on his helmet. The HUD snapped to life and a compass rose appeared near the top. "Everyone's helmets working nice?" "Copy." Lucas responded. "_Bueno, amigo, bueno_." Martinez responded cracking his neck. It was like staring into two mirrors placed at the corner. On the outside, they all looked identical. Lucas had the only different feature of a paw print spray painted on his helmet. "OK. Keep your gear on until we're needed." "_Sergeant Callard. This is Captain Gerald. Are you there_?" "Reading you sir." Jon acknowledged. "_Good. We've just done an autopsy and ID scan on a dead crewmember. We've discovered that he died from possible claw strike lacerations_."

"Claws?" Lucas asked. "What the hell were the guys there doing?" "_We don't know, Corporal. That's why we're out here. Radar is picking up a strange silhouette located about 230,000 kilometers up-orbit. Profile seems big enough to be a match. Get ready sergeant. We're taking no chances here_." "We'll be ready sir." "_That's what I want to hear Callard. Gerald out_."

"Time to earn the pay check gentlemen! Let's get moving!"

The _Midsummer Night_ cut through Deneb's asteroid belt. The rocks drifted far away but close enough to see. The frigate's helmsman piloted her through the smaller rocks that were closer. The belt itself was three times as dense as the ones back home around Sol. There was still plenty of space to fly in but it could still be a hazard. Up ahead, the sun glinted off a large object. "Is that her?" Captain Gerald asked. "Confirmed. That's the _Harmony_."

The ship was a 600 meter long behemoth. Two fins stuck out of the back which held drive core nacelles. The command center was located on the top of the vessel as went the tradition of UNSC ships. "Hailing…no response, Captain." "The ship's been holed on the port side near the drive cores. Uh scratch that, it looks like an explosion. No atmospheric venting, she must be dry."

Gerald shook his head. "I really don't like this. Find us a docking hatch." "Can't do it without someone on the other side." "Fuck!" "Sir? Do we send in Callard's team?" He nodded. "Yeah. Send them in."

A Pelican transport dropped out of the _Night_'s launch bay. Four heavily armed ODSTs sat in the back quiet as death. The pilot noticed this and tried to initiate conversation. "We'll be there in a few minutes. Any questions?" Lucas nodded. "Yeah, how the hell are we getting out?" "I'll park this baby on a smaller access hatch. I'll cycle you in and when you finish your investigation, just come out the way you went in, plain and simple. Hang on, we're almost there."

The pilot flipped his ship 90 degrees. He counter-thrust the rest of the way. He activated the landing gear. Ever so slowly, the tires touched the hull of the ship and the Pelican bounced slightly. "Engaging manual airlock." The pilot said extending the tube from the bottom of his dropship onto an identical receiver.

Gravity had disappeared and the ODSTs leapt from wall to wall to get into position. "Whoa!" Lucas said with delight as his legs flailed. "Grab on, Tommy!" Callard said. Lucas nodded and pulled himself up. The Sepcial Ops soldiers attached their weapons to their suits and waded down the lock using the rigging on the ceiling for support. They came to the receiver and opened it manually. Rancid air rushed in. "Phew, what the hell is that smell?" Martinez asked. "Smells like a corpse." Lucas complained. "Or a bunch of corpses." Raymond added. "Silence." Callard finalized.

Their boots hit the deck as the artificial gravity fields enveloped them. "There we go." Martinez said thankfully. "Was never much a fan of Zero G myself." Tommy sealed the hatch behind them. The room they were in was dark. The lights must have burnt out or were broken. "Turn on your flashlights Marines." Callard said. "Don't want to bump into anybody while we're here. No need to give the navy boys a heart attack." They did so and four beams of light pierced the darkness. All of a sudden, Raymond gagged. "What the fuck happened here?!" Lucas said with his voice cracking.

Callard noticed too. In front of them were two horribly mutilated bodies, Marines by the looks of it. Their heads were completely torn off and their skin was ripped off in several places. "Oh God." Raymond said swaying. Jon saw the entire room drenched with blood. Beyond that was absolute silence. "Well gentlemen, looks like we have us some work to do.


	3. Chapter 2: Into Darkness

Chapter 2: Into the Darkness…

April 9th, 3237, 0110 hours

UNSC _Harmony_

Deneb System

Callard took a step forward. The boot hit the deck with a lasting _thud_ that echoed off the walls. Lucas looked from corner to corner bringing his gun about wherever he looked. Martinez said to Raymond, "Wonder what got them, huh?" Raymond winced behind his helmet. "I don't like to think." He said quietly. "_Mio Dios, usted bastardos pobres_."

The Sergeant noticed the blood going around his boots. The dark red stains looked recent. "The blood's new." He said with a look of realization. "Excuse me?" Lucas asked. "The fucking blood is new! Where's an open spot?" he found one and pressed his sole on the metal. A perfect imprint of Callard's shoe was there. "The blood's new." He repeated. "Whatever killed these men was here not too long ago."

There was a noise down the hall. Everyone brought their guns up. Callard pointed down the corridor. "Form up. Follow me." Everyone followed in single file. All the while, a distinct sound of metal scratching metal reached their ears. The lights were off here too. "Stay close. Check any adjacent doors or passages. I don't want to be surprised." "Roger." They all said. They got a little further when Lucas screamed, "JESUS!"

They looked about. Lucas was clutching his chest. Apparently a video screen flickered on and gave the Mobian a slight shock. "You OK, furry?" Callard asked. Tommy caught his breath. "Yeah…I'm fine." Callard walked up. "Hang on, we can figure this out." He walked up to the screen. "Computer, run diagnostic." "_Th…th…this terminal is online and f…functioning at 38% efficiency. H…h…how may I assist you today?_"

"Give me a damage report!" "_The UNSC _Harmony_ has been crippled at 481 hours ago, at least twenty hours after communications were severed. Hull is at critical…critical stress. There is a major hull breach on the port side of the ship and mi…m…minor similar breaches all over the vessel._" A badly flickering representation of the _Harmony_ appeared on screen with red tinted areas representing the compromised decks. "Can we communicate with anybody else on the ship?" "_Negative. COM systems were the first to fail at 501 hours previous._"

"What killed these men?" The computer took time searching. "_That is unknown. Biological entities have been detected on all decks. They do not coincide with our crew as they are not Human or Anthropomorphic_." "Then what the _fuck_ are they?" Raymond asked. "Answer the damn question!" A noise came from behind.

"What was that?!" Lucas asked getting to one knee and scanning the hallway. His flashlight scanned the hallway but eventually it was swallowed up by the darkness. "_Unknown._" Was all it said.

"Come on, give us more than that! We need to-" the deck rumbled suddenly and sparks flashed from overhead lighting. The screen went dead and there was a large _thump_ that reverberated somewhere nearby. "What the hell was that?" Martinez said as the hallway plunged into total darkness.

"Felt like an asteroid." Callard said. "We are in an asteroid belt I believe." "That sounded like a deck venting. Pretty close if I'm not mistaken. HAL over here won't say anything so we're on our own." "Seal your suits just in case. We may be walking into compromised decks." "Copy." The ODSTs growled.

"Lucas, check that door." Callard said. The Mobian slid up against it and cracked it open a bit. There was no hiss so they had reason to believe that the pressure was normal. Lucas grunted as he tried to shove it aside. He couldn't move it. "Martinez, help Lucas." Jon sighed. Joe nodded and helped the anthro move the door. "Come on, furry. Push."

Together they managed to open it to a few feet, wide enough to pass through. "Lights are out here too. What the hell hit this place?" Tommy reported. A flashlight scanned the room. "We have more bodies." Raymond sighed frustrated. This was not going well. Bodies were popping up all over the place. "Wait a tick." Callard said. "This one's not military."

The Sergeant lowered his weapon and detached the flashlight. He shone it over the body. "He's a scientist." Tom shrugged. "Well he has to be. The lab coat, the clipboard…" Callard read the nametag. "Dr. Vincent S. Press, PhD." "I wasn't aware that the _Harmony_ had scientists on board. Maybe we skipped it over on the briefing?" Raymond suggested. "No. I read the same thing twice. There was no mention of a group of scientists. Something's going on here. Something _wrong_."

"Sergeant! I've found more scientists!" Martinez reported. "Status?" "Dead, sir." "Fuck me. Alright." Callard tilted his head pensively. There were several bodies on the floor, many of different species. There were several humans, some Mobians, and even a couple Sangheili corpses. Blood was red mixed with purple, creating a dark muddy brown where they mixed. "I'm slipping all over his stuff." Lucas complained. "Hello, what's this?"

He bent down and picked up a data disk. The disk itself was scratched along the interior. "Looks like a log." He concluded. "Could be useful in finding out what went down here." Callard gulped. He had seen way too many horror movies. "Play it." Lucas nodded and slid the disk into a portable reader. He tapped 'PLAY'.

"_This is the log of Doctor Vincent Press. I have no time to mention date! They're everywhere! I can hear them all over the place! They're in the air ducts, in the walls, in the hallways! Oh God, I can hear them everywhere… [Static]…they won't get me! I'm armed! I can defend myself!_" It was at that moment they noticed a pistol was half-covered by Press' body. M6 model. "_I'll be ready for them. [Other voices]. You, no. You stay away from me! I saw you die! [Protesting]. Don't spout that bullshit, they got everyone! I was the only one in here. I'll kill you all before I give myself up!_ _[Protesting, unintelligible] DIE! DIE, JUST FUCKING DIE! [Gunshots, screams]…"_

There was silence for a second. No sound except heavy breathing. "_Heh…hehehe. I did it! I'm alive! I...Corbin? Jace? Than? Oh no…oh no…oh what have I done? What have I done? Oh mama, I'm sorry. Mama…AAAUUUGGGH, ACK._" A cold female voice said, "_Record ends abruptly. End transmission_."

"What have we walked into?" Raymond said with wide eyes. "Vince over here cracked and said he started seeing things. What a bleeding cliché. His friends come in to find him and he plugs them. What happens then is unknown." Jon said. "Couldn't have killed himself, he was screaming at the end, then he just snubs out." Tom added.

"There's a huge hole in his chest, like someone punched right through it. Probably died instantly." "I wish we could say the same about his friends." There then came a groan from one of the bodies. They brought their guns up. It was a groan of pain. "Hello?" Callard asked. "Help." The reply came. The Special Forces team went to the source, a balding scientist. "Who are you?" "Ugh, my name's Philbin, Jak Philbin. I was one of the head researchers here. Help, I've been shot."

Dr. Philbin was clutching his stomach. Most of the blood had dried out but him sitting up broke the clot. "Sit back, Doc." Martinez said. Callard interrogated the man. "What happened here?" "I…I don't know." "What are these creatures?" "We never had a name for them. We just called them Species 610." "There a physical description along with that, doc?" Martinez said wrapping a bandage around his torso. "AH! Yeah, I think so. They're mainly spores that can survive interstellar space." "_That_'s what HIGHCOM sent us out here for? Space spores?" Lucas said standing up angered.

"You will shut your cave, Marine." Callard said firmly. "Evidently there's something else we're dealing with, Doctor. Tell us!" "You see, they're not just spores that drift…ugh…from place to place, they also-" There was a noise scraping above in the air ducts. "Oh God. They're back!" Philbin said suddenly frightened. Their flashlights started to fail. "Oh _bullshit_!" Callard cursed. In the darkness, they heard Doctor Philbin scream but it was cut short by a jagged slash and the patter of blood on their faceplates. "Doc?" Lucas asked. No replay. What they did see were a couple pairs of white eyes, reflected by what little light the ODSTs produced from equipment. "Oh fuck!" Jon cursed suddenly frightened. "Fire, FIRE!" The Marines fired their guns at the eyes. In brief flashes they made out the creatures they were attacking. Lanky, almost skeleton-like, claws for hands and a head that looked like a human skull. In short, it was a child's worst nightmare come to life. "RUN! SEAL THE DOOR, SEAL IT, SEAL IT!" The ODST screamed. They shoved the door closed and placed metal boxes in its path. The door opened by sliding but they hoped it would slow that thing down!

There was a deathly scream and down the dark hallway, more pairs of eyes appeared. "Oh no." Hank moaned. "GET BACK TO THE FUCKING DROPSHIP!" They dropped their guns in fright and ran back down the hallway. Their limited NVG on the HUD got them through. Lucas, being the clumsy bastard he was tripped a few times but caught his balance. "Open the door." Callard said when they reached the airlock. "I can't! It's sealed somehow!" "There's supposed to be no power!" "Unlock it!" Martinez pointed at the door. "Sarge, there's no time to find the key."

The glowing eyes had followed them to the door. Shrieks accompanied them which sounded like pleasure. "Blow the door!" "Yes sir!" Matinez replied. He primed a grenade and tossed it into the airlock. There was a thump and a strong wind. Also a lot of light…

The creatures were seen in their entirety. They looked horribly similar to humans. This was, of course, before they were blown out of the hatch into space. When the compartment was empty a few hundredths of a second later, the ODSTs began to make a mad dash for the outside but a huge metal bulkhead slammed over the rupture. "NO!" Callard screamed at the top of his lungs. He was plunged into darkness once again. "NO, NO, NO, NO, NO!" He banged his fists on the door. "We're going to die." Callard said with a quivering voice. That was a first. To the others, Jonathon Callard was a man of action and feared no man, woman or alien. If he was beginning to lose it, then it was a real bad sign.

"Sarge, we have no guns." Martinez said. "Save for sidearms." Callard suddenly sat straight, his helmeted head staring into space. "Just before we blew them out, did any of you notice how they reacted to the sunlight?" Lucas nodded. "Yeah, they started getting real frisky. I saw heat blisters and bloodshot eyes."

"They hate the light! That's why this ship is so dark! The windows are closed! It all fits!" "Sergeant, two things: One, we're stuck on a ghost ship with pistols, and two: These things are definitely not spores." "I noticed." Callard responded. He was stone cold serious again. "I think somebody's doing something they're not supposed to be doing here and worse yet; I think somebody on this ship is behind it. All this is too convenient to be an accident." "Sir. There's nobody else on this ship. Everyone's a corpse."

A message board flickered to life, catching everyone off guard. "Look, it's writing something."

'HELP US. WE ARE TRAPPED. WE CANNOT GET OUT. WE CAN HEAR THEM. THEY ARE COMING. WE CANNOT GET OUT. OUR DEATH APPROACHES.'

Shivers ran up everyone's spine. "Oh my God. It's so freaky." Lucas commented. Callard tried to respond back. 'WHERE ARE YOU?' It was five whole seconds before a response was made. 'IN THE COMMAND CENTER. WE ARE GATHERED HERE FOR FOOD, WARMTH AND WATER. WE CAN HEAR THEM THOUGH, SHADOWS FLITTERING IN THE DARK. MANY HAVE ALREADY COMMITED THEMSELVES TO ETERNITY. WE FEAR THAT WE MAY SOON WALK THE SAME PATH."

'WE'RE COMING FOR YOU. STAY CALM AND DON'T PANIC.' A blank screen. Then, 'GOD BLESS YOU. ARRIVE WITH HASTE.' The screen then deactivated, plunging them in darkness again. "Just _once_ I want the screen to stay on!" Martinez groaned. "Who was it?" Lucas asked. "Probably the ship's chaplain. There are a whole lot of survivors on the bridge. From the sound of things, they don't have much time and many of them have committed suicide to keep them from getting killed." "Smart." "Yeah, isn't it? Move out Marines. We have people to save. But first, we need to stop at the armory. Let's open a few skylights while we're at it. Let's go, let's go!" 


End file.
